Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Well, I've tried really hard - read all the info and looked into several of the twitter accounts - and I still don't really get it! It was interesting having a nosey at different Twitter sites - seeing who has a Twitter account and what they twitter on about ... but apart from satisfying the curiosity factor I can't see what's the big attraction. There must be something I'm missing - so I started a Twitter account myself thinking I might have to actually be a participant rather than an observer to get a handle on it... so, watch this space.

I was interested in the site for Grabaseat. It seemed very popular with over 10,000 following - so I suppose people use it to catch the latest best deals. I also went into Jodi Picoult (because I read her books). Her site seemed to be mostly self promotion with some family bits and pieces.

I like the idea of having just one username and password to access several web accounts. I didn't know about OpenID before now so will look for the OpenID icon and if the service is available I'll go ahead and use the security details from this Google account from now on. Anything for an easier life!!

Even though alot of what was covered in Online Privacy and Security is common sense we don't always stop to think about it so it is important to be reminded every now and again. The two videos were very good and I particularly liked the McAfee and Netsafe sites. We could refer library patrons to them - people using the internet, children doing projects on cyber bullying, concerned parents, etc. I also thought the privacy tips for people who use Facebook to be really good (in the additional reading section) - Grouping your friends into family, friends, acquaintances etc. with appropriate privacy settings for each group was something I hadn't thought of - mind you I don't have a Facebook account but I will pass that info on to my children.

My advice to a patron opening up a pharos or My Info account would be to use something that is easy for them to remember - the password is only a means for them to access the account and is not protecting their personal or financial information. For our website - I'd suggest they signed up with a pseudonym if they did not want their name displayed if they left a comment.

Friday, October 16, 2009

It's been a while since I've been to back to this blog and in the meantime I'm sure the blogging world has increased a hundredfold - so I'm sure I haven't been missed!

Anyway I'm here to start my next challenge - the Get with it!!! - more Web 2.0 Technologies .... learning programme being run by North Shore Libraries. I think I've come a long way since the 23Things programme in 2008 and now appreciate the benefits of working on and with the Web alot more. I haven't become a blogger in my everyday life - but for an on-line programme such as this can definitely see how it is a wonderful tool to enable and enhance learning - so here I am, back again, ready to blog my way through the programme.

One of the things I really appreciate now is how this blog has become a record of my learning journey. I've got a real buzz out of revisiting some of the posts from last year - a great reminder and, I can see in some cases, will serve as a reference point.